


Negima! Magister Negi Magi

by thefullmetaledwardelric



Series: A New Senshi [7]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist, Mahou Sensei Negima!
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 08:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2302430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefullmetaledwardelric/pseuds/thefullmetaledwardelric





	1. How Did We End Up In The Principal’s Office?

Once the good-byes had been said, Natalie and Edward had moved on. When the portal opened this time, they came out in a dimly lit room. It was large but it didn’t echo like one would think it would. They looked around.

“So where are we?” Edward asked.

“Well if I figured right, we should be at Mahora Academy in Japan. I was hoping to land outside though.”

“Welcome,” came a friendly voice of what sounded to be an older man.

Natalie and Edward both turned around quickly. Seeing who it was Natalie relaxed a bit, it was the Headmaster. Somehow she must have just missed and they’d come out in his office.

“Hello sir,” she said with a smile.

Edward leaned over and whispered in her ear, “You know him?”

Natalie nodded. “I know of him. Remember, I read about the places we’re going to. He doesn’t know me personally though.”

The Headmaster got up from his desk and walked over to them. “And what brings someone like you and your friend here?”

Natalie drew in a deep breath and exhaled it. It was obvious to her that he could tell right away who she was and that seemed to be helpful to them this time. “Well first, I’m Natalie Simon and this is Edward Elric,” she replied. “We came here hoping that you or someone here might be able to help us.” Natalie didn’t tell him that they had also come for the school festival. It wasn’t really important right now anyway.

The Headmaster nodded. “So what are you looking for?”

Natalie pointed out her necklace. “I was hoping to find another one of these.”

He took a minute to examine the item. “Ahh, a translation stone, these are hard to come by.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Natalie replied with a sigh.

“I didn’t say I couldn’t help you or that I didn’t have one. I just hope you weren’t expecting me to just hand it over without an equivalent exchange.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to sir. What can we do in exchange for it?”

The Headmaster thought about this for a few moments. “Please, have a seat. I have to get someone and then we can discuss options.” He then went out the door. Natalie and Edward both sat on a couch and waited for him to return. It almost felt like he had been expecting them to show up here.

A few minutes later the Headmaster returned and behind him was Negi Springfield. Edward looked at the kid. He didn’t look to be any older than ten or eleven. What could he have to do with getting what they’d come for?

“Ms. Simon, Mr. Elric, let me introduce you to Negi Springfield. He’s one of the instructor’s here as I’m sure you’re probably aware.”

Natalie nodded. “I’m well aware of Mr. Springfield,” she replied with a smile. “Child prodigy, magician, and English teacher for class 3-A.”

The Headmaster grinned at her. “You’ve done your homework, excellent. What I’d like you to do is assist Mr. Springfield in his class. They can be a bit of a handful and seeing as you’re a native speaker of the English language you might be of some help to him. In return I’ll give you my translation stone, though mine isn’t quite as fetching as that necklace of yours. Though, if it’s for Mr. Elric, as I suspect it is, that won’t be too much of a problem.”

She looked at him strangely. “How did you know my primary language was English?”

He laughed. “My dear, I know many things but it’s not difficult to tell that you’re American. Your friend though, he’s a more difficult one. Actually, before he joins you in the classroom, I’d like some time with him.”

“Excuse me? But what do you want with me?” Edward asked.

The Headmaster clearly had no trouble understanding him. “You’re an alchemist are you not? I know at the very least that you’re Amestrian.”

Edward looked at him shocked. “Right on both counts.”

The Headmaster chuckled. “You look like your father you know, that’s how I knew. I had the good fortune of meeting him some time ago.”

“I’m sorry Headmaster sir,” interrupted Natalie. “But how could you have gone to Amestris?”

“I dabbled in dimensional magic in my younger days and happened upon it. Hohenheim was quite a drinker and he liked to talk about his boys back home.”

Edward, though having made peace with his father before he died after the fight with Father, still didn’t like being told he looked like him. He still had a stubborn hatred for him for leaving them alone for so long. He’d never completely let it go.

Natalie could see he was agitated by the talk of his father. She put her hand on his knee and shook her head, silently telling him not to start anything.

“But anyway,” the Headmaster said walking over to a drawer and withdrew a small locked box. Taking the box back to his desk, he took out a small key and opened the box. Inside was a ring with a red stone in the center that looked just like Natalie’s. “Here you are Mr. Elric.”

Edward took the ring and put it on his right middle finger.

“Now I’d imagine that ring has the same limitations your necklace does Ms. Simon. It will only work when directly worn, just carrying it won’t do.”

Natalie nodded. Edward looked at it. He couldn’t help noticing that it looked a lot like the ring Cornelo had in Lior. He knew it wasn’t the same, as that one had broken apart; it just was enough of a likeness to be a bit haunting to him.

“Now, if you would be so kind as to change your outfit Ms. Simon and accompany Negi to the classroom.”

“Oh yeah, this isn’t exactly proper attire for a classroom is it?” She said as she put her hand to her chest and transformed back to her regular clothes. “I’ll see you later on alright Ed?”

Edward nodded. “Yeah…” It was clear Edward didn’t like being left with this guy.

“Oh stop pouting,” she said with a laugh. “You might find that the Headmaster can teach you something. That is what you told me you wanted to tag along for right?”

Edward just made a sour face at her. Yeah it had been what he’d told her, but it wasn’t what had made him jump through that portal. He thought she’d figured that much out by now.

“Ms. Simon…” Negi said, trying to get Natalie’s attention.

“Just call me Natalie,” she said with a smile.

“Ah, alright, and please call me Negi. Shall we be going?” With that, Natalie nodded and they headed out of the Headmaster’s office.


	2. Meeting 3-A

Negi led Natalie down the hallway to the classroom. “So what brings you to Mahora Academy?” Negi asked her.

Natalie chuckled. “The Headmaster didn’t tell you anything about us?”

He shook his head. “Not really, he only told me that you knew about my magic and that it was alright because you and your friend had talents of your own. He also asked me to have you in my classroom as a teaching assistant but he didn’t say why.”

“He’s doing a favor for us and this is the least we can do for him in return for that favor.”

“The artifact that he gave to your friend?”

“His name is Edward, and yes,” she replied with a smile. “We came looking for that, but I also thought it might be fun to be here for the festival too.”

Negi chuckled. “I have heard it’s quite a sight to see. I’m looking forward to it myself. Actually you came at a good time. The girls are preparing for it as we speak,” he said as he stopped in front of a door. The plague that hung next to it read 3-A. “Here we are,” he said smiling at her and opened the door.

Inside there were props in pieces and girls talking and painting and hammering. “Girls! Girls! Can I have your attention please?” They didn’t seem to have heard him. “GIRLS!”

Natalie put her hand on his shoulder. “Let me give it a try,” she said with a smile. “Hello!” she said sounding bright and cheerful. The sound of a voice they didn’t recognize got them to stop. “There you go Negi.”

“Ah, thank you very much Natalie. Girls, can I have your attention please? I have someone for you to meet.” The girls of 3-A gathered in front of the props so they could get a good look. “This is Ms. Natalie Simon; she’s going to be spending some time with us as my teaching assistant.”

Natalie smiled and lightly bowed, “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

A tall blonde girl came up to Natalie and looked her over closely. She looked like she didn’t trust her. Actually it was more like she saw Natalie as a threat. Natalie felt a bit uncomfortable being scrutinized like this, but she expected it. She already knew that this girl was very obsessive and protective of Negi and here she was, another girl, which would be working closely with her precious Negi.

“Come on Class Rep, back off,” said another girl as she came up and put her hand on the blonde girl’s shoulder pulling her hard away from Natalie pretty much throwing the other girl to the floor. As she moved, there was a jingle from the bells she wore in her ponytails.

Natalie couldn’t help but to laugh. Seeing Asuna and Class Rep in person acting like this was even funnier than reading about it.

“Sorry about that Simon-sensei, Class Rep is just a crazy, jealous, cradle robber, don’t mind her,” Asuna said chuckling.

“Who are you calling a cradle robber?! I can’t help it if you prefer geriatric men. You’re such a barbarian Asuna,” Class Rep said standing up and dusting herself off.

Negi stood between them. “Now, now, enough of that. We don’t want any of the hard work you’ve all done to get ruined do we?”

Natalie bit her lower lip trying not to laugh at the idea of a short, little ten tear old standing between two towering 14 year old girls and expecting to keep them apart especially if they really wanted to go at it. Thankfully neither one did.

“Oh, you’re right as always Negi-sensi,” Class Rep said to Negi with a sugary sweet smile. She then turned back to the rest of her classmates, “Alright ladies! Let’s get back to work! We only have the rest of today to get this finished!”

Natalie went over to Asuna. “Is there anything I can help you guys out with?”

Thinking for a moment she replied, “Actually you can come help Konoka, Setsuna and I paint if you want.”

Painting, she could do that. “Sure. What are you painting?”

“Just some black inner walls for our class haunted house. It shouldn’t be anything too bad but we just need a lot of them. So basically they’re making them,” she said pointing to another group of girls on the other side of the room. “And when they’re done they bring the panels over here and we paint them black. Pretty straight forward right?”

“Yeah, doesn’t sound too hard,” Natalie replied with a laugh.

“Konoka, Setsuna, Simon-sensei is going to help us out,” Asunsa said as she approached her classmates. Konoka was a very petite and pretty girl and Setsuna was very clearly the protective type. When Natalie came over, Setsuna gave her a funny look. Considering that Setsuna was a student of the Shinmei School of martial arts, it wasn’t a surprise to Natalie that she could probably sense who she was. Thankfully, Natalie didn’t have to worry about Setsuna saying anything right now because it would be stupid to make a scene here in the classroom. Natalie knew that many of them knew Negi’s secret and about the existence of magic but enough of them didn’t as well.

“You guys can call me Natalie-sempai if you want. I’m not exactly a teacher, heck, I’m not much older than you guys. To be honest I just graduated from high school not that long ago. I’m just here to give Negi a hand and be more of a tutor for you guys if you need it.”

Konoka looked at her with a smile and handed her a paint brush. “So what brought you here? You’re foreign right? Are you from England like Negi?”

Natalie took the brush and sat down with them. “I’m foreign yes, but I’m not from England though. I’m from America. I actually came here with a friend, but he’s still in with the Headmaster. You’ll probably get to meet him later; he is supposed to be helping out too.”

“Oh, Grandpa took an interest in him? He must be something special too, just like you and Negi,” Konoka said.

“Special?” Natalie asked, sounding confused.

Konoka just laughed. “Never mind Natalie-sempai, it’s not really important.”

Setsuna still looked at Natalie with mistrust. Asuna saw it and poked her. “What’s your problem?” she whispered to Setsuna.

“She has a strange energy about her Asuna and I can’t tell if she’s friend or foe,” she whispered back.

Asuna shook her head. “I don’t think the Headmaster would have let her in here if she was going to be a threat to us. Relax a little OK?”

“Maybe…” Setsuna said but she wasn’t sure. Natalie could see the look in her eyes. Blending in might not be so easy after all. She just hoped that the fact she was here with the Headmaster’s blessing would help.

They had been working for a couple of hours when there was a knock on the door. It was Takamichi Takahata, the previous teacher for 3-A before Negi had taken over. He spoke with Negi for a minute then left. Negi came over to the group of girls. “Ladies, would you all come with me to the Headmaster’s office? You too please Natalie.”

They all nodded putting their brushes down and following Negi out of the room. “I wonder what this is all about?” Konoka asked Asuna.

“Who knows, we’ll find out when we get there.”


	3. The Stories Are True?

When Negi, Natalie, Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna arrived at the Headmaster’s office, there were at least two dozen other people already there, including Edward. He was standing beside the Headmaster. He didn’t look as annoyed as he had when Natalie had left him earlier which was good. The others in the room looked like a combination of staff and students. Natalie figured they were all the magic users from the various schools within the Mahora Academy campus. The Headmaster motioned for her to come over and join Edward and himself.

“Hello again sir,” she said with a smile.

“Hello, my dear. Can I have you wait here with Edward for a moment?”

“Certainly.”

The Headmaster stepped away and went to sit at his desk. Natalie leaned over and whispered to Edward. “How did things go?”

“Really well, but I’ll have to tell you about it later…” he said as he motioned with his head that the Headmaster was getting ready to start.

“Thank you all for coming. There are a few things that I need to share with you. First, we have two new young people joining our staff temporarily.” The Headmaster motioned for Natalie and Edward to step forward. “The young lady is Natalie Simon and the young man is Edward Elric. They have come to us to assist young Negi Springfield with the 3-A English class. They will be acting as teacher’s assistants and tutors as needed. So you are aware as well, they are also members of our magical staff here at the school so you can feel at ease with them. Mr. Elric is a gifted alchemist and Ms. Simon is a master of dimensional magic. I hope you show them every courtesy and help them feel welcome here at Mahora Academy.”

There were a few murmurs and mutters between the people in the room. The Headmaster didn’t seem to notice or if he did he clearly didn’t care. It did make Natalie feel a little nervous though; she wasn’t used to be the center of attention like this. Edward didn’t seem to care either, but that was to be expected, being the center of attention at one point was a daily thing for him.

“On to the next order of business, as you all know tomorrow the annual Mahorafest school festival begins. During that time the World Tree’s magic will be at its peak. As we all know, there are stories among the students that say that if you confess your love to someone under the World Tree that you will be together forever.”

“That’s just a story though, right Grandpa?” Konoka asked.

“Normally yes, the World Tree is pretty harmless most of the time, but every 22 years the magical power of the tree builds. This is that year. We’re expecting that it will be at its strongest on the third day of the festival but throughout the other two it will be dangerous as well. I’ve asked you all here to ask for your assistance in keeping our students from confessing their feelings around the tree. The results could be very dangerous. Affairs of the heart should be conducted of one’s own free will, not because of magic.

You can use any means necessary to keep the confessions from happening so long as you don’t expose yourselves and the existence of magic in the process though that should go without saying. Patrols will start at sunrise tomorrow so please check on your way out for the times and places I’ve assigned for you. Each shift is only two hours in length so that you will also be able to enjoy the festival yourselves or attend to your students and clubs.”

“Don’t worry sir, we’ll make sure no one confesses near the tree,” said one of the students. Her uniform suggested she came from St. Ursula’s, the high school on the Mahora campus.

“Very good, then that is all I had for you.”

The room started to clear. Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna, and Negi lagged behind and went over to Natalie and Edward.

“So is this the friend you told us about Natalie-sempai?” asked Konoka.

Natalie smiled. “Yup, this Edward-sempai.” She then introduced Edward to the girls. He’d already met Negi earlier in the day.

Konoka leaned over to Natalie, hiding her face from Edward with her hand. “So, is he your boyfriend?”

Natalie blushed ten shades of red. “Um… I… well… Uh…” She was clearly flustered. Natalie wasn’t sure how to answer that question. They were close yes, and she had told him how she felt about him, and there was the fact that he had nearly died to save her but they had never really talked about that sort of thing. Natalie didn’t want to push it. Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion had had that conversation with them both but that still didn’t mean they were together as in a couple sort of together.

“What are you laughing about Oujo-sama?” Setsuna asked Konoka.

“Oh just how cute Natalie-sempai is, that’s all,” she replied with a giggle.

Natalie just gave Konoka a look. This wasn’t funny at all. Edward looked over at that point and her cheeks were still flushed. “You OK Natalie?” he asked.

Natalie waved it off, “Oh yeah, fine, no problem, nothing’s wrong, nope, just peachy!”

Edward looked at her strangely. He didn’t buy it for a second but decided it was just better to let it go. It was for the best too because at that point the Headmaster came over.

“Natalie, Edward, while you’re here I’ve arranged for you to stay in the faculty apartments. I hope you won’t have a problem staying together as we only have one available right now,” he said as he handed them the keys.

Natalie and Edward looked at each other. Stay together? Well they had been alright when they’d been in Resembool but then Alphonse had also been there and things weren’t exactly the same between them then as they were now. Plus, then they’d at least had separate rooms.

“Also, if you need anything please let me know. I know having currency isn’t always easy for one such as you,” the Headmaster said, more looking at Natalie.

“Thank you for everything sir, we appreciate it very much but we will find a way to repay you for everything.”

The Headmaster waved it off. “Don’t worry about it young lady, just do the things that have already been asked of you and everything will be settled.” He then motioned for Negi, Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna to come over. “Would you all be so kind as to show our guests where the faculty apartments are?”

“Sure Grandpa,” Konoka said with a smile. She then turned to the group. “Come on, let’s go.”

The group left the Headmaster’s office and headed out for the trains. The apartments were on the other side of the campus from the girl’s middle school.


	4. I'll Show You Mine...

When they arrived at the building, it didn’t take them long to find the one that the Headmaster had given them. It was small and simple but they didn’t need a lot. There was one open room with a little kitchen and a bed room off the side of it. In the kitchen area of the open room was a table with two chairs. In the area off of that there was a small sofa and a chair as well.

Poking her head into the bedroom, Natalie noticed only one bed. This was going to be interesting to say the least. She figured she’d take the couch, which would probably be best. She then fully went into the bedroom and noticed that in the closet there were clothes hanging there. The Headmaster had outdone himself. There were also a formal dress and a tuxedo in there. “What could those be for?” she wondered. Oh well, she’d have to figure it out later.

She went back out into the main room. Negi had sent the girls back since they had to get back to the classroom and finish up the haunted house with their classmates. “I hope you don’t mind, I know you’d like to get settled and all, but I was hoping I could talk with you.”

Natalie looked at Edward. He just shrugged. “Of course Negi, what’s up?” she asked.

“I was curious about your magic actually. Dimensional magic, alchemy, I’ve head of them both but I’ve never really seen them.”

“Well mine’s a bit more than just dimensional magic but it’s the primary use of my abilities. I’d say it’s more spatial. To put it simply, I can open doorways to anywhere I can imagine. I can also send things through those doorways to other places as long as it’s in the same world I’m in. The only thing I don’t really do is take people. Ed’s the only exception I’ve ever made to that.”

Edward nudged her giving her a look as if to ask her why she was telling him all of this.

Natalie just chuckled and shook her head. “You’re too paranoid Ed.”

“I’m not being paranoid! I don’t know about you, but I don’t know anything about this kid and I don’t think it’s a good idea to be telling him so much!”

“Edward,” she said through gritted teeth. It was clear she wasn’t happy with him. “I thought we’d gotten past this trust thing.”

“Yeah and the last time I trusted your judgment when it came to a person that wasn’t exactly normal I ended up in a coma for two days…”

Natalie took in a deep breath trying not to blow her top. What had gotten into him rubbing that in her face and now of all times? She had expected him to get mad about that before and hadn’t he actually told her that he wasn’t mad about it? “Ed, what’s gotten into you?” she asked softly, still mad but also hurt. “You know what, I think I need some air…” she said as she grabbed Negi’s hand and lead of him out of the room.

“Natalie! Wait!” Edward shouted just before the door closed. She didn’t come back after he’d called for her. “Damn it.”

Edward flopped down on the couch angrier at himself than at her. He didn’t even know what had come over him. Negi was just a ten year old kid and he knew there was no reason for not trusting him it just hurt seeing Natalie so friendly with him. How much more of an idiot could he be?

Outside, Natalie and Negi just sat on the stairs to the building. “I’m sorry about all of that. I don’t know what came over Ed that he’d act that way.”

Negi chuckled a bit. “It’s quite alright. It sounds like he’s just worried about you. I would think he cares for you a great deal.”

“I know,” she replied with a sigh. “He just has weird ways of showing it.” She needed something to throw but there wasn’t anything around. Frustrated, she put her hands together and held them in front of her face leaning against them for a moment. She then put them down on the stone and a small stone ball appeared in a quick flash of light. “Oops!”

Negi looked at her oddly. “What was that?”

Natalie chuckled. “Ed does it better than I do but that’s alchemy,” she said taking a hold of the ball. “I can’t really control it, it just sort of happens for me. Ed can create just about anything at will.” She then handed the ball to Negi.

Negi looked it over. It was a little ragged but it was clearly a ball. “How does this work?”

Natalie shrugged. “I don’t know as I can explain it, not completely anyway. But from what I know basically you take something of equal mass and composition and make it into something else. Most people need to draw circles to make it work but there are a few like Ed and myself that can do it without drawing the circle first.” She then stood up. “How about I show you what I’m really good at though.”

“Oh your dimensional magic?”

Natalie nodded as she took her pen from her pocket and transformed. “Here, let me see that,” she said holding her hand out for him to give her the ball. “Now if you’ll stand on the other side of the stairs,” she said. Negi did as she asked and she went to the other side. Holding her staff she created a portal and then rolled the ball through it. It rolled out at Negi’s feet.

“That’s amazing!” he said.

Natalie chuckled and put her hand to her chest to change back. “That’s only a simple demonstration Negi,” she said with a laugh. “It’s not really all THAT impressive. I’m sure you’ve seen and even done things more amazing than that.”

Negi blushed a little and laughed. “Either way, it’s still amazing. You’re really very talented.”

At that moment a rodent’s head popped out of Negi’s jacket hood scaring Natalie. “That’s an understatement Negi!” it said in a rougher sounding man’s voice.

“Chamo-kun, don’t scare the poor girl like that!” Negi scolded.

“Aw come on Negi, this girl is perfect! You should…”

“Don’t even say it Chamo-kun, I’m not making a pactio with her.”

Natalie chuckled. “Sorry Chamo, but I don’t think that would go over well.” She knew all about Chamo the ermine. He was a dirty minded, perverted little rodent that was more selfish than most people. He only helped Negi when it was in his best interest to do it.

“You know about the pactio?” Negi asked.

“Yeah, it’s a long story as to how though.”

Chamo sighed. “No chance of changing your mind.”

Natalie shook her head. “Nope, besides, I already have a partner, even without a pactio between us.”

This gave Chamo an idea. “I could do that…”

Natalie shook her head again. “No Chamo.”

At this point Negi got up. “I think we should go now. I know you still need to get settled in. Oh, are you and Edward going to be attending the Mahora Festival Ball tomorrow night?”

“The what?” Natalie didn’t remember the manga story ever mentioning anything about a ball, not during the festival any way. She actually thought they did fireworks and the like at the end of the first day. This wouldn’t be the first time things weren’t exactly a she knew them though.

“The first night of the festival it seems they have a ball. It’s a formal affair to celebrate the opening of the festival.”

“Huh, that must have been what that was for,” she said to herself remembering the formal wear she had seen in the closet. “I guess we are,” she answered with a smile.

“Oh good, then I’ll see you both then. I have quite a busy day with the martial arts tournament and patrols tomorrow so I probably won’t get to see you again before then.” Negi blushed a bit.

Natalie wondered what the blush had been about but she just shrugged it off and laughed. She figured he might be wrong considering by then Chao Lingshen will have given him the Cassiopeia time travel device. She kept that to herself though. “Alright Negi, I’ll see you tomorrow at the ball.”

Negi waved to her as he hurried off. Natalie chuckled to herself as she got up and headed back inside. She had to deal with Edward still. What had his problem been? If she didn’t know better she would think he actually sounded jealous. That was silly though, Edward jealous of a ten year old like Negi. Well, whatever it had actually been, hopefully he’d gotten over it by now and his head had cooled off.


	5. The First Night Alone

When Natalie came back into the apartment, Edward was sitting on the couch, his face in his hands. He’d spent the entire time she’d been gone trying to figure out why he had acted like he had.

“Hey Ed, you OK?” she asked as she walked over to him.

Hearing her voice he looked up at her. When it registered that she was there, he got up and hugged her. It took Natalie off guard, she wasn’t expecting this. He’d been afraid she wasn’t going to come back. She hugged him back and just chuckled a bit. “Did you hit your head again Ed? You’re acting really weird today.”

He let her go and looked at her a bit embarrassed. “No, I just thought…”

She put her hand on his shoulder. “Ed, I’m not just going to go off and leave because we had an argument alright. We promised remember? No more running away. It was just better to walk away for a few minutes. I know you have a short fuse sometimes so I figured it was just best to give it a little bit. Let cooler heads prevail you know?”

Edward nodded, “Yeah I know but I don’t even know why I lost it like that.”

She just shrugged. “Some habits die hard I guess. I knew you had trust issues from the start, I just thought you and I had squared that away already.”

“I thought so too, like I said, I have no idea where that came from. I’m sorry.”

Natalie smiled at him. “Don’t worry about it just don’t let it happen again OK?” She winked at him and went over to the little kitchen. “It’s been a long day and I don’t know about you but I’m starving. Let’s see what’s in here.” When she opened the cabinets there were all kinds of simple, easy to heat things. “These will do,” she said as she took noodles out and heated them up.

They sat at the table and ate. “So what did the Headmaster tell you while I was gone?” she asked Edward.

“Plenty actually, he really wasn’t that bad for an old guy.” Edward pointed to a stack of books sitting on the coffee table. “It would seem he sent them over ahead or something. He really is frighteningly intuitive, even for an old man.”

“Told ya he would be useful,” Natalie said with a laugh.

Edward just made a sour face at her and continued. “Seems the magic users have and use circles a lot like the ones used in alchemy. This world actually relies on magic like mine relies on alchemy but they don’t perform it openly like we do. I guess the normal people can’t handle it here. I get it though, most people are afraid of what they don’t understand. I’ve seen enough of that from the outer villages in Amestris alone to know why these guys would want to keep their magic a secret.”

“Most regular people don’t even believe this sort of stuff is even possible. It’s actually like that in a lot of worlds, my own included.”

“That’s the first time I think I’ve heard you mention your own world outside of explaining how you know so much about all of these other ones,” he said sounding a bit surprised.

“My world really isn’t something all that special. It’s actually a lot like this one except I come from a different country within it.”

“This America that the Headmaster mentioned?”

Natalie nodded. “Yup. Right now we’re in a version of Japan. Where I’m from is pretty much on the opposite side of the world from here and it’s a slightly different culture from the one here. I’ll have to take you there someday.”

Edward smiled at her. “I’d like to see it.”

After they’d finished eating and cleaning up Natalie thought it might be time for a shower. It actually just dawned on her that she had yet to find the bathroom in here. After poking around she realized it was off of the bedroom. “Edward, do you want to go first or should I?”

“You can go ahead. I wonna look through some of the books the Headmaster sent over. I have a theory that I want to look into and maybe one of these has something in it.”

“Suit yourself,” she said with a smile. “Just no peeking OK?”

Edward turned red. “What kind of guy do you think I am?” he said sounding a bit insulted though he wasn’t actually.

“You’re adorable you know that?” she said as she closed the door to the bedroom so she could get undressed then hop in the shower.

Edward’s cheeks flushed more. Who did she think she was making fun of him like that? He wasn’t some pervert. The thought of peeking hadn’t even crossed his mind, well not until she’d said something about it anyway. He had to admit he was a bit curious though. “Damn it, have to get that thought out of my head,” he said to himself, shaking his head. “She’d kill me, or worse, if I did that.” To get his mind off of that he picked up one of the books and started reading.

About fifteen minutes later she came out of the bedroom in a t-shirt and shorts, her hair down as she was still trying to towel it dry. This was the first time he’d seen her with her hair down like this. It was a lot longer than he’d thought and it made her look different, prettier.

Natalie just grinned at him as she had caught him staring. “It’s your turn space case,” she said snapping him out of the semi-trance he’d been in.

Edward blinked and shook his head. “Sorry, lost in thought,” he said as he got up.

“I’ll bet,” she said as she threw her towel at him playfully. “Put that in the bin in the bathroom for me would ya?”

Edward caught the towel and just laughed at her. “Yeah sure, no problem,” he said as walked past her, brushing against her as he did. Natalie’s face turned a bit red but nothing that Edward would have seen.

When he came out later, he found her sound asleep on the couch. He couldn’t help but to chuckle to himself. The couch was no place for a girl to be sleeping. He went over and lifted her up. Instinctively she wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled into him. She looked so sweet and vulnerable when she was asleep. It was hard to believe that she was the same person that had fought so hard just a few days ago. Carefully, he took her into the bedroom and put her into the bed making sure to cover her up. “Good night Natalie,” he said softly, kissing her on the forehead before going back out and taking the couch himself.


	6. Today's the Day

The next morning, Edward had woken up early and was already gone by the time Natalie had gotten up. She was a bit confused too. She thought she’d fallen asleep on the couch last night. Had Edward moved her? She went out into the open room and there was a blanket folded up at the end of the couch. She put two and two together and figured out that he had indeed moved her and had slept out on the couch instead. Natalie couldn’t help but to think it was pretty sweet of him.

Looking at the clock Natalie realized she had to go relieve him. “Oh crap, if I don’t hurry…” She rushed to get changed and get her things together and ran out.

It took her longer than she’d expected to get there. The entire campus was mobbed with people, more so than she’d counted on.

“You’re late,” he said as she came up to the World Tree Plaza. Thankfully he didn’t sound angry. Mana Tatsumiya and Asuna were waiting there as well. Natalie had her shift with Asuna so Edward must have spent the last two hours with Mana. That would have been interesting to see, Edward and his alchemy with Mana and her rubber bullets.

“Pretty quiet morning,” Mana said. “Only had one attempt which was easy enough to handle but it’s only the first day and it’s early. Hopefully it will stay quiet for you two. Now that the opening ceremonies are over, more people will be milling about here though so keep on your toes.”

“Thanks Mana,” Asuna said. She was already carrying her harisen fan and was ready for some action. Mana left but Edward lagged behind for a moment.

“I’ll meet you back in here two hours OK?” he said.

Natalie chuckled. “Alright, I’ll see you then.” Edward grinned at her then walked off into the crowd.

Asuna looked at Natalie with a grin. “I’d keep an eye him if I were you.”

“Why?”

“If you’re not careful you might find him at the business end of one Mana’s rubber bullets if you know what I mean.”

“Asuna! It’s not like that.” Natalie started to look noticeably flustered.

“Yeah you say that but I can see the way he looks at you. I know that look,” Asuna responded as she started to walk around the plaza. Natalie caught up to her and walked beside her as they started to look around and keep an eye out for anyone who looked like they might even think about confessing their feelings.

“Ed wouldn’t, he’s not the kind of guy to do that sort of thing. He’s barely aware of what that emotion is little own able to express it.”

“Let me ask you this though, does he know how you feel about him?”

“Yeah why?”

“Well that makes a difference. One thing I’ve noticed is that if a guy knows how a girl feels and he’s even the least bit open to it, it’ll grow. If not, well, if guys don’t feel it they don’t look at girls the way Edward looks at you.”

Natalie cocked an eyebrow a bit confused. “How would you know? If I’m not mistaken the only guy you’ve ever loved is Takamichi…”

Asuna wheeled around and eyed her. “How do you know about that?”

“That’s my secret Asuna, but it’s not hard to tell just by the way you look when he walks by. So when are you going to tell him?”

It was Asuna’s turn to blush. “I’m supposed to meet up with him on the last day of the festival.”

“Gutsy move confessing during the festival. I think it might be you that ends up on the business end of Mana’s rubber bullets,” Natalie replied with a laugh.

Asuna didn’t even seem to register Natalie’s comment. “Speaking of confessions…” Asuna said pointing to two high school kids sitting at one of the patio tables on the plaza. The boy seemed particularly nervous as he sat there talking to the girl.

“I think I got this one,” Natalie said as she put hands together and placed them on the ground. Concentrating she caused the stone under the boy’s chair to grow slightly and topple him over. No one would think anything of it since he’d already been tipping it back when she’d done it.

“Nice one,” Asuna said giving her a high five when she stood back up.

“That should keep him from confessing for a bit. It probably knocked the wind out of him a little too.”

The rest of the time went by pretty quickly. They would get a few more before Setsuna and another teacher that Natalie didn’t know showed up to relieve them. Natalie took a seat on the steps of the plaza and waited for Edward to show up like he’d said he would. She wouldn’t be waiting long though.

“Hey Natalie. How’d it go?” he said with a smile.

“More eventful than your shift but not too bad,” she replied. “Had a chance to use my alchemy a bit too though I think I still need to practice more.”

“You know all you have to do is ask right? I’ll help you practice whenever you want,” he said offering her a hand to help her up.

“I know. Just haven’t really had a chance you know?”

Edward laughed. “Yeah things have been pretty crazy since we left Resembool.”

“Thankfully I’ve been fairing well enough on my own for now. I don’t think I could use it right in a fight though.”

They started walking towards the center of the activities where all the student run booths were. There were all different kinds of things to see, food stands, merchandise made by the various clubs, games, you name it and there was probably a booth here for it.

“This whole thing is really amazing. I’ve never seen a festival of this size before. We don’t have things this elaborate back home,” Edward said, his expression reflecting his words. “The most we really had in Resembool was the sheep festival. You can imagine how entertaining that really was.”

As they walked they passed multiple game booths. “Young man! Win a prize for your pretty girlfriend!” one of them called to Edward. “You don’t have to pay if you win!”

Edward couldn’t resist a challenge. He even seemed to miss the girlfriend comment since he didn’t make any reaction to it. “Wait here,” he said as he walked over to the booth.

“Wait a minute Ed, you don’t…”

Edward shook his head. “Just wait there,” he said smiling at her. He then turned his attention to the man behind the booth. The prizes were all sorts of pretty little pieces of jewelry. “What’s the game?” he asked.

The man behind the counter grinned at him. “It’s really very simple. Take this ball and knock down all of the bottles in one shot.”

Edward grinned slyly. Natalie knew that look, he was up to something.

“Alright,” he said clapping his hands together then taking the ball. When he touched it he rearranged the makeup of the ball. When he threw it, it hit dead on and all of the bottles fell. He then stood back; his arms crossed triumphantly and grinned at the guy.

“You’re the first all day to be able to do it, congratulations. Go ahead and pick your prize.”

Edward saw a ring in a little silver box sitting on the shelf. It had a green stone in it that was just about the same color as Natalie’s hair. “That one,” he said pointing to it.

“Good choice young man! Here you are,” he said, handing Edward the box.

“Thanks.” He then turned and went back over to Natalie. She was looking at him a bit annoyed.

“You cheated,” she said softly so no one else would hear her.

“Not really, I did what he said to do. I had to knock all the bottles down in one shot with that ball. There was nothing in the rules that said I couldn’t adjust the composition of the ball so it would be easier to throw and more likely to be accurate,” he said with a grin and handed her the box.

She took the box from him and just shook her head chuckling. “Leave it to you to find and exploit a loop hole.”

He gave that adorably goofy grin of his and nodded. “Hey, I just wanted to win that for you that’s all. Now come on, put it on, and see how it looks.”

Natalie opened up the little box and took the ring out. She had to look at it for a moment to see which finger it was most likely to fit on then slid it onto her right middle finger. It fit perfectly. “It’s really pretty, thank you Ed,” she said with a smile and hugged him.

He hugged her back, holding her close. “I had to do something to make up for being a jerk last night.”

“No you didn’t, but I appreciate that you did,” she said softly. Mana had to have said something to him while they were on patrol this morning. It was the only way she could think of that he’d get an idea like that, though something like this didn’t seem like Mana’s thing either but she was the only one that had seen him long enough this morning that she knew of. It didn’t matter though, she was just glad he’d done it.

They spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around. They even managed to get to the 3-A haunted house before Edward had to leave for his afternoon patrol shift.

“I’ll meet you at the ball tonight alright?” Natalie said as she dropped him off with Takamichi. “Don’t forget, there’s an outfit for you in the closet at home.”

“You got it. I’ll see you then,” he replied with a wave as he and Takamichi walked off.


	7. Now I Know How Cinderella Felt

Natalie headed back to the apartment to relax before getting ready for the ball. She was lost in thought, looking at the ring that Edward had given her as she walked. That was two presents he’d given her now, this ring and the jacket. She couldn’t help but to blush a little.

Natalie was so lost in thought that she didn’t see Konoka waving to her. “Natalie-sempai!” she called. That got her attention.

“Hi Konoka, what’s up?” she said with a smile.

Konoka chuckled. “You seem off in your own little world, everything alright?”

Natalie smiled. “Yeah everything is fine. I’m actually kind of surprised to see you. I figured you’d be off at the tournament or enjoying the festival.”

“The tournament just ended actually and Asuna and Set-chan had patrol duty so I thought I’d head back to the dorms for awhile. I didn’t expect to see you alone either to be honest; I thought you’d be with Edward-sempai.”

Natalie blushed a bit. “I was until a little while ago, he had patrol duty too so I figured I’d go back to my apartment for awhile and relax before the ball later. I have to figure out what to do with this mop any way,” she said idly flipping her hair.

“I could help you if you want,” Konoka volunteered. “I’m going too, Grandpa’s orders.”

“You’d help me?” she asked. “If you’re going don’t you need time to get ready too?”

Konoka shook her head. “I don’t need a lot of time. Why don’t we stop by your apartment and get your stuff and then you can get ready with me at the dorm.”

“Thanks Konoka, that’s really nice of you.”

“No problem,” she said with a smile. “Let’s get going.”

The two headed off and two hours later they were all set to go. A car showed up to take them to the hall.

“You ready Cinderella?” Konoka asked chuckling.

“Yeah,” she said blushing. “I just can’t believe…” The dress that the Headmaster had provided for her was far more beautiful than anything she’d ever worn before since she hadn’t gone to prom her last year of high school, she’d been too busy. Not that she had a date for it anyway. It was sleeveless and emerald green, accented with silver sequins fitting her closely until about her hips where it flowed out gently around her and just skirting the floor. Konoka had done her hair perfectly as well. She had pulled up half of it into a bun and let the rest hang in a cascade below it. She’d even put in little silver streaks to make it sparkle when the light hit it.

“Then let’s go,” Konoka said, taking Natalie’s hand and leading her out to the car.

When they arrived, there were footmen at the door helping people out. Other attendees were strolling up from all over. It looked like this was not only for staff but for older students as well; it looked like middle school and up. A footman came to Natalie’s door and helped her out. When she stepped out, she felt like a movie star. People were staring. Konoka came around the car and linked her arm through Natalie’s and the two of them went up the stairs.

“Feels like a fairy tale doesn’t it Natalie-sempai?”

Natalie nodded. “Yeah, I’ve never gone to anything like this before, not even my high school prom. I was too busy and even if I hadn’t been, I didn’t have a date so it wouldn’t have been as much fun.”

“But you have a date tonight right?” Konoka asked with a wink.

Natalie blushed and sighed a bit, happily. “That’s right, I do.”

“Then I’ll leave you here for now. I have to go find Grandpa anyway; he’s probably got a line-up of young men waiting to meet me. He’s always trying to find me a husband. When will he ever learn, I’m fourteen and I’m not ready for that yet.”

Natalie chuckled. “Alright, thank you for everything Konoka. I’ll catch up with you later then.”

Konoka waved and disappeared into the crowd of people. She already knew Natalie would be too busy later to actually catch up to her.

Natalie wandered around for a few minutes just taking it all in. Everyone was so elegantly dressed, women in fancy dresses, men in tuxedos, some even in traditional Japanese attire. It really did feel like a fairy tale. The music was playing, people were dancing, it was something she’d never forget.

Natalie was standing alone when a young man put his hand on her shoulder. “A beautiful young lady like you shouldn’t be standing here alone, might I have a dance?”

Natalie turned around to see a handsome young man there. He couldn’t have been older than sixteen. She was waiting for Edward, she didn’t think she should. “I’m actually waiting for someone so I don’t know as I…”

The young man chuckled. “You don’t recognize me do you?”

Natalie took a closer look at him then it dawned on her. It was Negi. He actually looked pretty good older and in a tuxedo. “Negi,” she whispered, “What are you doing? Why are you…?”

“Older?” he replied chuckling. “It’s a spell. I’m actually trying to avoid attention for a bit. As you know, my students can be quite demanding and there are also some of the high school girls that seem to be chasing me about. It also seems I made quite an impression on people during the tournament, now they all want me to talk to them. Is it really so bad to just want to enjoy this without being hounded?” Negi said as he smiled and winked at her.

Natalie laughed. “No there’s nothing wrong with that at all. Well I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have one dance while I wait for Ed to get here. You know you’re pretty smooth for a ten year old.”

Negi blushed and laughed along with her as he took her hand and led her to the center of the dance floor. As they danced, they swept easily across the floor, turning a few heads as they did. Those who didn’t know better would say they were a couple, they looked so natural together. It wouldn’t be long before they were interrupted though. The crowd had split a bit and a man was coming towards them, it was Edward.

As he approached, Negi let Natalie go, the look on his face almost looked like I felt guilty for being there dancing with her. Natalie’s breath caught in her chest and her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest it was beating so fast. She’d never even imagined Edward dressed up before and here he was, his hair pulled into a pony tail and bound a third of the way down with pure black cord. The tuxedo was a collarless one with perfect lines and the same pure black as the cord in his bright blonde hair. The tuxedo made his golden eyes shimmer even more brightly and intensely than they did before. He looked like a modern Prince Charming.

“Thanks for keeping her company until I got here, but this princess is spoken for,” he said eyeing Negi intensely, angrily. He of course didn’t realize it was Negi though it may not have mattered even if he had known. He then put his arm around Natalie’s waist lightly but enough to pull her closer to him.

Negi didn’t argue and he bowed his head to Natalie. “Thank you for the dance,” he said as he took her hand and kissed the back of it gently before walking away. He correctly assumed it was probably just better to leave though it wasn’t exactly an easy decision to make. Who was he kidding anyway? He was really only a ten year old boy, feelings like these weren’t supposed to be there for someone his age. He’d had his moment though, so he would be fine. Besides, she already had Edward, she didn’t need him. Maybe those feelings had been misplaced right from the start any way.

Now that Negi was gone, Edward pulled her closer and she was almost forced to look him in the eye. His gaze wasn’t as intense as it had been a moment ago. He still looked angry but he also looked a bit hurt. They continued the dance, looking even more impressive than when she had been dancing with Negi.

“Who was that?” he asked, trying to keep his temper under control and Natalie could tell that was what he was doing.

Natalie looked at him strangely, a bit confused. “That was only Negi, Ed.”

“Don’t lie to me Natalie; Negi’s a pipsqueak ten year old. That guy was a lot older.”

“I’m not lying, Negi cast a spell on himself to make himself look older, and that’s all. It was just a dance, why are you so angry?”

Edward didn’t say anything. When he’d come in and seen her with another guy it had felt like someone had sent a skewer straight through his chest. He didn’t want any other guy to even look at her little own put his hands on her. After a moment he finally tried to answer her, “I just couldn’t…”

That’s when it dawned on her. “Oh I get it Ed,” she said with a bit of a grin. “You were jealous weren’t you?”

The song ended as she asked him this so Natalie took Edward by the hand and led him outside into one of the terraces that were attached to the hall so they could talk more privately. Letting go of her hand, he went over to a railing and leaned against it, not looking at her. “I wasn’t jealous; I just couldn’t stand to see you dancing with someone else. I wanted to beat the crap out of him the moment I saw him with his hands on you.”

She went over and stood next to him, leaning a little on the railing too. The World Tree could be seen faintly glowing off in the distance. “Yes you were. That feeling of wanting to hurt him, that was jealousy Ed.”

He stood up completely and turned to look at her. He couldn’t help but to notice that the silver streaks in her hair glinted softly as her hair drifted easily around her face and shoulders in the breeze. He’d noticed how beautiful she looked the moment he’d arrived and seen her but right now it seemed to really hit him. “Natalie…” he started, his voice soft. She was right, he was jealous. That’s when it hit him, how he really felt about her and it scared him. There had been a part of him that had known pretty much from day one but he’d been able to deny it this entire time, but he couldn’t anymore.

She stood up and looked at him. Tears had started to flow in thin lines down his cheeks. “Ed? Are you alright?” she asked as she reached up to wipe the tears away. It wasn’t like him to cry, especially for what seemed to her as no real reason. He caught her hand before she could actually wipe the tears and pulled her to him, holding her close so that her head rested against his shoulder. She instinctively held him back, he was shaking a little. “Ed, you’re scaring me. Are you alright?” Her voice sounded concerned. This wasn’t like him at all, he didn’t act like this. What had come over him?

This feeling was irrational and complicated and painful but seeing her, being with her, it made him happier than he’d been in a long time. He had to tell her, he had to make his voice work. Finally he was able to manage, his voice quivering, quiet and gentle. “Natalie, I… I…” He let his grip on her go a little so he could look in her in the eyes, regaining a bit of his composure. “I love you,” he said softly before pulling her close again and kissing her.


	8. What Now?

The next day, Edward was out early again. Natalie wasn’t sure why, he wasn’t supposed to have patrols today, neither of them were. Maybe he’d gone to see the Headmaster. She wished he was here though, they needed to talk. They hadn’t really had a chance to last night. Never in a million years would she have expected him to tell her that he loved her, especially now. She had just been thankful that they had been outside of the World Tree’s radius of power or Asuna’s little prediction may very well have come true and Edward would have been on the business end of a rubber bullet.

Natalie got in the shower; she needed to clear her head a bit. She was still trying to play back the entire night in her mind. After he’d kissed her, the rest of it felt like a blur in a dream. After his confession he’d made her feel like Cinderella dancing with the Prince. The whole room just seemed to vanish around them. She was left to wonder what happened next though. They had been so tired when they had gotten home that both of them had pretty much passed out not leaving any time to talk.

Wrapping a towel around her and grabbing another for her hair, she went out into the bedroom. Edward was sitting there. “Holy shit!” she exclaimed and ran back into the bathroom and slammed the door closed. She hadn’t even heard him come in.

Seeing her in a towel was not what he’d expected and he couldn’t help but get flustered and blush. “Ack! I’m sorry! I didn’t think…”

“You could have said you were there you know!”

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll go in the other room until you’re, well, decent,” he said as he quickly got up and went out in the other room. He couldn’t help but to chuckle at the irony though, it was usually her catching him less than dressed.

She came out of the bathroom and quickly got dressed. When she came out he was sitting at the table. She wrapped up her hair and sat opposite him. He still looked to be a bit flustered.

“We need to talk,” they said pretty much in unison.

“You go first,” Edward said laughing.

“OK. I just, well after last night I wanted to know what now?”

“What do you mean? Nothing’s changed; at least I didn’t think so.”

“How can nothing have changed?”

Edward sighed a bit. “Don’t make it more complicated than it is Natalie. You told me that first night how you felt and I couldn’t give you an answer then because I didn’t have one to give you. Last night I realized I finally had my answer to give so I did. I didn’t think it would be that big of a surprise considering everything that’s already happened between us and to us. Now it’s just what was inside is on the outside. That’s the best way I think I can explain it.” He got up and went around the table so he was standing behind her. He wrapped his arms loosely around her neck and put his chin on the top of her head. “I guess I was just making sure you knew for certain that I wanted you to be my girl and no one else’s.”

Natalie got up from her seat, forcing him to let her go. He stepped back wondering what she was going to do. He hoped he hadn’t said something wrong. When she turned around to look at him she was smiling. She grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him closer, “Good answer,” she said with a smirk and kissed him.

When she let him go he sighed a bit sigh of relief. “You were testing me,” he said laughing.

“Sort of, I really did want to make sure this meant what I thought it did. You just did better than I thought you were going to,” she said as she let her hair out of the towel so it would fall loosely around her face and on her shoulders.

Edward smirked at her and pretended he was being stabbed in the heart. “No faith Natalie, no faith. That hurt.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed. “You’re such idiot you know that?”

“But I’m your idiot,” he said trying to look sweet and innocent, and failing.

Natalie almost lost it laughing. “Don’t try to play sweet and innocent Edward Elric, that’s my job. I’d stick to the bad ass look, it suits you better.”

He couldn’t help but to laugh himself. She was right, he never really did have an easy time with the innocent look, that had always been Alphonse’s specialty.

With that settled now she went into the kitchen to make some coffee. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“Oh that’s right,” he said going in to help her though there wasn’t really much he could do to help. It was only coffee after all. “I almost forgot, I went to see the Headmaster this morning to ask him about something I’d seen in one of the books he loaned me. It seems in their magic world they have partners, one usually being a magic user and the other a protector.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it. It’s called a pactio. What about it?”

He was going to question her about how she already knew about it but then thought better of it. He had a feeling he already knew the answer to that question anyway. “Well I was thinking it might be useful for us to have one since it gives the partner a boost and it allows for telepathic communication. Considering what we do, it might come in handy.”

She turned to look at him. “And who would be who in this scenario?”

He rubbed the back of his neck a little nervously. He knew his answer was going to make him sound like an ego driven pig. He hated this for two reasons the first being he knew that would make her mad at him and second it was so Mustang and that made him mad and on a smaller level ill. He really disliked that ego maniacal asshole and the very thought of him, even now, made him angry. He had to give this a try though. “I was thinking you’d be the magic user and I’d be the protector. Your power is more truly magic based than mine and though your martial arts skills are excellent, mine are better. I just think it would be best if I were the one out front protecting you.”

She looked at him. “And that assessment has nothing to do with the fact that you have a single minded determination to be a protector to begin with?”

He shook his head. “No, I already know you can kick enough ass to take care of yourself, I saw that when we were in London and you cracked that guy in the nuts. No this is strictly from a strategic stand point, nothing else, I promise.”

Natalie thought about it as she poured two cups of coffee from the now finished pot. “So are you thinking of this as a permanent or probationary contract?” she asked as she handed him a cup.

“I was thinking maybe start it as a probationary then if it works, we can make it permanent. I’m just struggling with finding someone to put it together for us. The circles we need are in the book I just don’t know if we can create them right. I’d need more time to research it but I don’t think we have the luxury of that kind of time.”

Natalie chuckled. She knew someone though she had flat out told him she wasn’t interested two days ago. She’d have to suck it up though. “I know someone but he’s not exactly what you’d expect.”

“How so?”

“Well he’s a talking ermine fairy thing that lives with Negi…”

Edward sighed. “So we have to ask Negi and this ermine to help us do this?”

“That’s what it looks like.”

“Perfect…” he said rolling his eyes a little. Edward didn’t really want to have to ask Negi for anything.

“We’re going to have to go over to the tournament grounds though to find them. Negi made it into the quarter finals yesterday and should be there now along with Chamo. The only other option would be to wait until later.”

“Nah, let’s go over there and see if we can find them. I’d rather just get it over with. If nothing else maybe I can pick up a few tricks watching the fighters.”

Natalie chuckled. “Are you still feeling jealous Ed?” she asked.

Edward just made a pouty, in denial face at her. “Very funny… I saw how he looked at you last night. That kid may only actually be a ten year old boy but…”

Natalie just shook her head. “But what? Like you said, he’s ten; he’s no threat to you. You really are hopeless you know that?”

“Yeah so you keep telling me but I still know what I saw. Can we go now?”

Natalie laughed at him. “Alright, fine, then let’s get going,” she said as she finished her coffee and got her jacket. Edward grabbed his jacket as well and they were on their way.


	9. Who Thought That Would Show Up Again?

When Natalie and Edward got to the pavilion where the tournament was, there were people everywhere and the line to get in was massive. Thankfully Konoka spotted them and waved them over. She was easily able to get them inside. Sometimes being the Headmaster’s granddaughter had its uses.

“Kind of handy to have around aren’t I?” she laughed.

“Thanks again Konoka,” Natalie said. “I keep imposing on you.”

“Don’t think anything of it really. What brings you guys out here?”

“We were looking for Negi and Chamo-kun actually.”

“Ahh, they should be down in the locker room, Negi just finished his fight with Takahata so he’s probably getting patched up. The fight was pretty intense but Negi managed to win. Set-chan and Asuna are getting ready for their match now so Negi should be back up here in a minute.”

“Oh that should be fun to watch,” Natalie said. She already knew it would be though since she had seen it in the manga. She was actually a little disappointed to have missed Takamichi and Negi’s fight. That one would have been one to see.

Edward nudged Natalie. “What are those?” he asked as he pointed up to the giant screens replaying the highlights from Negi and Takamichi’s fight.

Natalie chuckled. “They’re video monitors.” That’s right; Edward had never seen anything like that before since they didn’t exactly have that sort of technology in Amestris. “They play back things that are recorded. Remember how I told you about the shows I watched? It was on something like that monitor that I watched them.”

Edward thought about it for a minute. “That’s just amazing. It’s not surprising that other worlds would have different technology though. I’m kind of curious what else this world has.”

He actually took that pretty well. She’d expected him to freak out more seeing the images displayed like that. It was actually reassuring to know he could keep a cool head about these things. It really shouldn’t surprise her though, Edward was probably looking at them in a scientific way or something similar.

“Oh, there’s Negi,” said Konoka as she pointed to a nearby door.

Negi walked up and smiled. He then saw Edward and got noticeably nervous. “Um, Edward, I… about last night at the…”

Edward put his hand up to stop him and shook his head. “Don’t sweat it Negi, it’s alright. You were just being a gentleman.” He hadn’t really let it go but he figured that it was better to act like he had let it go for now.

Negi chuckled. “Yes, thank you for understanding.”

Natalie and Konoka both just giggled at them. Guys were such strange things no matter how old they were.

“Negi, is Chamo-kun with you?” Natalie asked.

“Did someone ask for me?” the ermine said popping out of a pocket in Negi’s cloak. “Ah, the philly from the other night. Change your mind about that pactio?”

Natalie blushed when Edward gave her a look. “Well actually, yes. Ed and I need your help. You mentioned the other night that you could do them and given our unique situation we thought it would be better to have one.”

Chamo grinned, taking out a chocolate cigarette and holding it in his mouth. “So you want me to make the magic circle so you and lover boy here can make a contract huh?”

Edward looked at Chamo a bit angrily. “Cocky little bastard,” he muttered just loud enough for Natalie to hear. She couldn’t exactly argue with him since it was true. Did Chamo really have to make the lover boy part of the comment though?

Natalie put her hand on Edward’s shoulder and gave him a look that said cool it. “That’s right Chamo, a probationary one.”

Chamo made like he was taking a drag from the cigarette. “Not going for the permanent one? I’m surprised but yeah I can do that for you. I’m guessing you’re the Magister and he’s the Ministra?”

“Magister? Ministra? What does that mean?” Edward asked.

Negi chimed in to answer this one. “A Magister is a witch or wizard like me and Ministra is the term used for their partner.”

Edward thought about it for a moment. “I wonder why they didn’t refer to it that way in the books. They just referred to it as a magic user and a partner.”

“It really depends on the text you read how it’s referred to. The terms are usually used mostly in classrooms in magic academies as those are the official terms but most regular magic users don’t use the terms when actually speaking of them.”

“I’m just old school,” Chamo said.

“Either way, can you do it Chamo?” Natalie asked.

“Like I said Toots, I can. We can go take care of it now if you want.”

The Toots comment really steamed Edward and it was a lot clearer this time. He made to grab Chamo but Natalie grabbed his hand. “Chill out Ed! It’s fine. Chamo’s just a crass, perverted little rodent, it’s just his nature. Just ignore it!”

Edward made what sounded like a growling noise in his anger but pulled his hand back. “Fine. Let’s just get this over with before he really pisses me off.”

Natalie gave Negi and Chamo an apologetic look.

“So you guys want to do this now?” Chamo asked. Natalie nodded.

“We can go down into the locker room area. There’s plenty of un-used rooms down there were no one should see,” Negi offered.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Chamo said.

“We’ll be back in time for Asuna and Setsuna’s match Konoka, would you wait here?”

“No problem Negi, hurry back,” she replied with a smile.

With that Negi, Chamo, Natalie, and Edward made their way down into the lower parts of the pavilion where the locker rooms were. Finding a secluded one, Chamo hopped off of Negi’s shoulder and started to draw the circle.

“So you guys know what you have to do right?” the ermine asked as he finished up.

Natalie nodded. “Yeah, we stand in the circle, you activate it and then he has to kiss me to make the probationary contract.”

“Bingo,” he said as he finished. “Ready when you are.”

Natalie looked at Edward. “You ready?”

Edward nodded and they stepped into the circle. Chamo then put his paw on the circle activating it. A brilliant light washed over them.

“Holy cow, this feels… interesting,” Natalie said.

“Feels a lot like standing in an alchemy circle,” Edward said.

“Come on you two, get a move on,” Chamo said.

Edward just shot him a look. He knew what he had to do it just wasn’t easy with an audience. Taking a deep breath, he drew Natalie to him and kissed her. When he did the circle shown blindingly bright and then vanished. Letting Natalie go, Edward bent down to pick up the created cards, a primary one for Edward and a secondary for Natalie.

“What the…?” he said as he handed Natalie the other card. She took one look at it and recognized the image immediately.

“Ed, say ‘adeat’ for me.”

“Huh?”

“Just do it, it’ll activate the card.”

“Um, OK, if you say so. Adeat.”

The card flashed and disappeared transforming Edward. When it was done he was standing there wearing an outfit he hadn’t since the days before he got hurt up in that northern mining town. Heavy boots, black pants, light brown leather belt, black sleeveless shirt with a long sleeve shirt that only clasped at the neck over that, white gloves and his long red jacket. It even had the pocket watch.

“What the hell?”

Natalie walked over to him and took his gloves off. His right arm was made of automail again. “Just as I thought, the power you got from the contract was your automail arm. It’s stronger than your normal arm and you can easily transmute it so it works with your natural ability. Give it a try.”

He clapped his hands together and ran his left hand over his right creating his old familiar blade. “You’ve got to be kidding me…” he said.

“Well seems now you get all the benefits of having the automail arm without having to wear it all the time. Though I’d be careful, unlike before, your real arm is still in there so if you bust this up like you used to you’ll be busting up your real arm too. At least that’s my theory.”

Negi nodded. “I’m inclined to think you’re right Natalie. The card power is just intended to be a booster not a complete replacement for anything.”

Edward clapped his hands together again and made the blade vanish back into the metal of the arm. “I just can’t believe it that’s all. I never thought I’d have this arm again. I have to admit, there are times I’ve missed it,” he said as he stretched it out and flexed the metallic fingers. “It feels a little different than it used to though, but I guess since it’s not actually automail that makes sense.”

“We should get going before someone realizes we’re here,” Negi said.

Natalie nodded. “Ed, say ‘abeat’ and you’ll go back to normal. We can try out the powers from the card later on.”

“You’re right. Abeat,” he said and in a quick flash of light he’d changed back and the card was in his hand. He safely tucked the card into his pocket for now.

Heading out of the locker rooms, they all went back out to watch the rest of the tournament.


	10. Hero Unit? We’re In!

After the tournament was over, Natalie and Edward had left Negi and the others and decided to walk around for awhile. There were still hundreds of things going on for the festival that they hadn’t seen yesterday. That and maybe they could find some place for Edward to try out the new card more.

“That was some amazing stuff we saw at the tournament, but I thought they weren’t supposed to be using their magic out in the open like that,” Edward said.

“They aren’t supposed to be but since Chao Lingshen opened it up to that, they did. The civilians just think it was some sort of staged performance with special effects anyway so it should be alright.” Natalie knew better though. At this point one of the sets of Negi’s group was probably at Eva’s in the resort training to fight Chao and stop her from exposing magic. The second, created by the Cassiopeia watch should be at the Headmaster’s office explaining about Chao’s plan. That meant they’d probably start seeing and hearing about the adjusted closing event soon. Well that would also be if she remembered the timeline right, she was unsure of it was on the second day or the actual third day that Negi and his friends came back to tell the Headmaster about Chao. With all of the time shifting that Negi had done it had been a little hard to keep it all straight when she’d read it.

No sooner than she’d had the thought then Takamichi walked up to them. “Good, I was hoping to run into you two.”

“What’s up Takamichi?” asked Edward.

“The Headmaster needs to see all of the magical students and staff immediately. Seems we have a problem and he needs everyone to help out.”

“Chao?” Natalie asked.

Takamichi nodded. “Yes, but the Headmaster will be able to tell you more. I still have a few more people to find so if you could, head over there without me.”

Natalie and Edward both nodded. “No problem, thanks Takamichi,” Natalie said as they hurried off to the Headmaster’s office.

When they arrived, Negi was there with the Headmaster but it didn’t look like anyone else had arrived yet. Natalie went over to Negi and the Headmaster. “I already know why we’re here. Chao’s planning to try and take over the points around the World Tree so she can cast a spell that exposes magic isn’t she?”

Negi and Edward both looked at her confused but the Headmaster nodded. He didn’t need to question how she knew about this plan. “Very good Natalie, again it seems you have done your homework on our world.”

“It’s one of my favorite stories, sir. I’m just glad you want us to help.”

“We need all of the help we can get honestly. Are you and Edward prepared to be part of the Hero Unit for tomorrow’s game?”

Natalie nodded. “You bet. Between Edward and me, I think we can do our part to keep her army at bay and keep the students safe.”

“Wait a minute,” Edward interrupted. “What the hell is going on here?”

“The most epic battle ever, that’s what,” Natalie said with a smile. “You get a chance to show them just how much of a bad ass you are and protect our new friends. Please understand, we have to help them, if we don’t then this world will be thrown into chaos and every one of the magical people we’ve met here will be lost. We can’t let that happen. This may not be our world but we’re here now and we can’t just think of ourselves.”

Edward crossed his arms and looked at her. “You have a way with words you know that?”

Natalie just grinned at him. She was just using his own words, though to be completely honest; they were actually the words of a different Edward, one whose story hadn’t ended the same way that her Edward’s had. That didn’t matter though, they may be different people but deep inside they were the same and she knew that it would have an effect on him hearing the words.

“He is right though, that was very well put indeed,” Negi said.

“Thanks,” she said smiling. “So which of the points do you want us at?”

The Headmaster nodded. “We’re expecting the attack to start around seven in the evening tomorrow so please make sure you’re at the World Tree Plaza ready to go at least an hour before that. If you have any last minute things to attend to, I’d ask you do it well before then.”

Natalie nodded. “We will,” she said as they headed out of the office. Just as they were leaving the others were coming in to be briefed on the plan. Natalie had to wonder if somehow the Headmaster had planned it with Takamichi to find them first so he could talk to them alone.

“I think we should get some training in before this all goes down,” Natalie said as they walked to the train.

“I agree but first why don’t you tell me exactly what we’re going to be dealing with since you seem to know so much about it.”

“Fair enough. Basically the reason Chao allowed the use of the magic in the tournament was because part of her plan is to expose magic. She wanted people already questioning the existence of it before she cast the spell tomorrow, the strongest magic day for the World Tree. She’s planning to tap into it using a circle much like the one Father made out of the five laboratories. There’s five points around the World Tree she has to get and then the World Tree itself in the center. She’s going to use that power to basically brainwash the world into believing in magic. If magic gets revealed then Negi and most of the girls in 3-A will be taken away and turned into ermines or imprisoned indefinitely. So what Negi is suggesting is a large scale event where we as the Hero Units will work with the civilian students to eliminate Chao’s army of robots. She only has a limited window of time to capture the six points and create the magic circle required so all we have to do is hold them off, though Negi and a few of the other girls will be going after Chao herself as well. We need to stay out of that fight; Negi has to be the one to beat her.”

“And I’m guessing this is an anything goes battle? We don’t have to worry about hiding our alchemy or your magic?”

Natalie nodded. “Exactly. Just like with the tournament, the public is being led to believe this is just an elaborately planned game and that none of it is real. Chao won’t be using anything too entirely dangerous, naked rays and ammunition that if you’re hit with it you get transported outside of the school and three hours into the future, just long enough to not be in her way anymore. She doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt anymore than we do which is good.”

“So what’s Chao’s deal anyway? Why does she want to expose magic to begin with?”

“I’m not entirely sure, all I can say is that she’s from the future and something happened between now and then that she thinks people knowing about magic might have prevented.”

Edward shook his head. “Wait a minute, if she’s trying to prevent some tragedy, why are we stopping her?”

Natalie sighed. She should have seen this one coming. “You should already know the answer to that Ed. Just because you or I believe its right doesn’t mean it is. You’ve seen already how people react to things they don’t understand and just being blindly forced to accept it, well you can’t do that. No one has any right to take away anyone’s free will for any reason just like they have no right to kill people just because they think it’s right or necessary. This world and just about every other are not just black and white, good or bad.”

Edward nodded knowing exactly what she was talking about. “All we have is what we believe in. Our conviction to that belief is the reason we fight. But like I said, how do we know what’s right or wrong here?”

“Our friends here are our reason Ed. I don’t know about you but I’ll be damned if they’re going to be punished because of Chao’s selfish desires. We have to do everything we can for that end.”

“OK, I agree with you there but there’s one more thing you said that’s bugging me. You seem to know already that Negi is going to win. If that’s the case why are we getting involved?”

“Because he can’t win if we don’t all fight. When I read about this place in my books that’s how he did it. We just now happen to be here to help them out and get them to that same end. Besides, it’ll be a good work-out,” she said with a laugh.

“Speaking of a work-out, weren’t we going to do a cram style training session for tomorrow night?” Edward asked as they finally made it to the train.

“Yup, that’s why we’re headed out to the far edges of the campus. There are open fields out there where we won’t have to worry about attracting attention or damaging anything.”

“We’re going to be at this all night aren’t we?”

“You bet. We can rest up tomorrow before the battle starts. Now come on, let’s get going,” she said as they boarded.

 


	11. Assault On The World Tree

They spent the entire night training. Edward showing Natalie all he could about using her alchemy along with as much of the martial arts training they could manage. They even went through all of the various uses of the pactio card from Edward’s transformation to the teleportation feature to the telepathic linking. Natalie wasn’t sure that they’d even be able to use more than the base card powers though. She remembered that when she’d read about this fight, the telepathy and teleportation powers had been rendered useless but she thought it was better to be safe than sorry just in case. Hopefully they hadn’t missed anything. It was six in the morning and the sun was coming up when they’d finally decided that they were as ready as they were ever going to be. They had twelve hours until they had to be at the World Tree Plaza.

Both of them had pretty much passed out once they’d returned to the apartment and slept soundly until about three in the afternoon. Natalie had been the first to get moving. She’d already transformed into Sailor Charon and was standing in the bedroom looking into a mirror when Ed knocked on the door.

“It’s safe,” she said as he pushed the door open.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to make my costume a little more heroic looking. I know it doesn’t matter as far as the battle itself goes but we also have a part to play that the civilians need to believe. You already look pretty heroic and seeing as we’re partners I thought I better beef mine up a bit. I don’t want you showing me up,” she said grinned at him.

He just crossed his arms and grinned back at her. “I don’t know, I think that outfit is pretty impressive as is.”

She just stuck her tongue out at him. “Now you’re just being fresh Ed but seriously, do you have any constructive ideas?”

He rubbed his chin a bit thinking. “Well it’s gotta be something that won’t get in the way. The last thing you want is to have something get wrapped around the staff since that’s how you use your base power.”

“You’re right,” she put her hands together and then placed them on the ends of the bow on her chest, extending them so that they drifted around her. “Hey Ed, can you get the one on the back?”

“Sure as long as you don’t call me fresh again for doing it,” he said laughing as he did what she’d asked him to. He looked at the symbol on the back of her dress, it gave him another idea. “Do you mind if I try something?”

“What are you going to do?”

“Just watch,” He clapped his hands together and put them on her back. The black symbol turned white and the white parts of her dress turned black. He then changed the color of the bow on her back to the same red as his jacket so that it stood out against the darker crimson of her skirt. “I’d do the front one too but…”

Natalie laughed. “Very wise choice Ed,” she said as she took her cue from him and changed the color of her front bow. “You know, I actually hope this color scheme sticks every time. I like it better this way.”

“Well considering the symbol appeared there and hasn’t left since, it very well might stay this way.”

Natalie took one more look over the costume and nodded approvingly. “Much better. Now you, turn around and let me braid your hair.”

“Why does my hair need to be braided?”

“Because it looks better with the pactio card outfit.”

“I can do it myself you know. I did it for how many years before you showed up?”

“Yeah and? I want to do it and that’s that. Now turn around,” she said with a laugh.

Edward sighed and shook his head but did as she asked. She quickly brushed it out then started braiding it. “You always get what you want don’t you?” he asked, chuckling.

“Not always, just when it really means a lot to me,” she replied finishing up. “There, all done. Activate the card and we’ll get going.”

“Adeat,” he said as he took the card out. In an instant he was in costume complete with his automail arm. “Feels like the old days, this should be fun,” he said flexing the arm with a grin.

“Except now you’re taller and can really rock the look instead of being a tiny, little pipsqueak who looks like he’s just trying too hard to be tough,” she said with a laugh getting ready for him to blow his top.

Right on cue, he did, “I was not a tiny little pipsqueak and I wasn’t trying! I WAS tough! Still am!” he argued through gritted teeth, his fists clenched. He’d never hit her but he REALLY hated being called short or small or any other variation of it even if someone was referring to the past.

Natalie almost lost it laughing. She was still laughing when she grabbed her staff and ran by him figuring it would be best to get moving before he could retaliate. He ran out after her still whining and yelling about the pipsqueak crack. He didn’t give it up until they’d gotten to the train.

When they arrived at the World Tree, people were gathered in mass at the plaza. They were all dressed in robes and had various magical items ranging from simple wands to bazooka-like weapons. As they made their way up to the World Tree, Natalie noticed that Asuna and Setsuna were already there.

“So is it just the four of us that make up the Hero unit here at the tree?” Edward asked.

Setsuna nodded. “Yes, for now anyway, we should be alright though considering we have the largest group of civilian fighters.”

“Here they come!” yelled someone in the crowd.

“They’re early,” Asuna said.

“That’s OK, we’re ready for ‘em,” said Natalie.

The loud speakers came alive with reminders of the rules and the command to make the items work. It also encouraged that players should work with the Hero Units to get bonus points for prizes after the event. It continued with reminding players that if they are disarmed they had to leave the field of play until they could rearm themselves.

“That’s our cue,” Natalie said looking over at Edward. “Ready?”

“Bet your ass I am, let’s do this!” They both clapped their hands together and put them to the ground. Under them a large stone pillar rose up lifting them into the air so they could see everything.

“Hey! Wait for us!” Asuna said as Setsuna let out her wings and flew up, grabbing Asuna as she did. They landed beside Natalie and Edward.

The final announcement came over the loud speakers, declaring the event open. It took less than a second for the bursts of magical energy to start flying at the smaller, more humanoid robots in the front.

“We’ll handle the big spider looking ones since our attacks can be more ranged and pack a more explosive punch,” Natalie said to Asuna.

Asuna nodded. “Sounds good to me. We’ll go help the players then.” With that Setsuna grabbed Asuna and they flew off.

Natalie turned to Edward. “I’ll stay here for now. My Spatial Rift will work better from here. If I need to then I’ll come down.”

“Alright, I work better up close anyway. Just be careful OK? It’s going to hurt if you get knocked down from here,” he said as he clapped his hands and transmuted his blade from his automail arm.

“Don’t worry about me,” she said with a smirk. “You be careful too.”

Edward winked at her and jumped down off the pillar sinking his blade into two robots as he came down. Natalie took her staff in hand and started aiming Spatial Rifts at the spider like robots, blowing off pieces of them with each hit. They were too big to take out with one hit, she hadn’t counted on that but she was making enough of a dent to slow them down.

Laser blasts were flying in response to the magical ones. When a blast hit, the robes of the players hit flew off. Natalie saw it from her vantage point. “Those must be the naked rays. Need to make sure to stay away from those,” she said to herself as she let off another Spatial Rift.

Meanwhile, Edward was down in the fray creating spikes from the stone of the plaza that came up under the spider robots spearing them through. One of the humanoid robots tried to grab him and taking the blade of his automail arm he punched it through the thing’s face. “I don’t think so asshole, no one sneaks up on me and gets away with it!” A moment later, what sounded like a bullet went flying past his head. He turned around in time to see it hit a player and wrap her in a black sphere that quickly disappeared. “Crap, they’ve pulled out those weird bullets Natalie told me about.”

Seeing this though, the other players freaked out a bit. Edward quickly explained to them that that was supposed to happen and that their friend was safe but that they had been taken out of the game. It had thankfully been enough because they went back to firing away at the robots.

Setsuna backed up into Edward by accident while fighting a humanoid robot. They almost took each other out with their blades before they realized who the other was. “These bastards just keep on coming,” Edward said. “Chao’s not messing around is she?”

“No she’s not and at this rate I don’t know how long we’ll be able to hold them off. The civilians are getting picked off left and right all over the school by those bullets. Luckily we haven’t lost any Hero Unit people yet but I think even that may just be a matter of time.”

Edward nodded agreement. “Where’s Asuna?”

Setsuna pointed to robots flying through the air. Edward couldn’t help but laugh. “Asuna seems to be holding her own. That sword of hers is an impressive artifact and her combat skills are a little rough but still impressive as well,” Setsuna answered.

As they were talking one of Natalie’s Spatial Rifts went flying by over their heads. “Seems like Natalie is still holding up too. Good. Time to get back to work,” Edward said.

Setsuna nodded and flew off to another part of the battle ground. “Alright you hunks of junk, come get some!” Edward exclaimed as he went back to fighting.


	12. We’re In Trouble Here, Time To Put An End To This

The hoards of robots just kept coming. Natalie didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to get away with being up on the pillar. As the bullets started flying by her more and more she realized she was an open and easy target. “Time to go she said,” as she opened a portal and entered it. She came out in the actual plaza. She thought now might be a good time to switch to alchemy and hand to hand. She made her staff vanish and then clapped her hands together to create a sword from one of the plaza walls.

Running into the crowd, she started slicing robots apart one by one dodging the laser blasts and bullets, sometimes just barely. She managed to work her way to Edward. Setsuna and Asuna had made their way to them too.

“This isn’t good,” Asuna said. “I’ve been hearing that the Chao’s robots have managed to take three of the six points already and they’re getting pretty close in the other two outer points.”

“They’re getting pretty close here too,” Natalie said as she clapped her hands and put them on the chest of an approaching robot turning it to a ball of metal. “We can’t keep this up much longer.”

“Is there any word on if Chao’s been found yet?” Setsuna asked. As she asked, the speakers came alive.

“Chao Lingshen has been spotted and our own beloved child teacher Negi Springfield is on his way to take her out! Bonus points go out to the finder of Chao but please, let the Hero Units take out Chao. Keep building your points for prizes against the robots until this final battle is decided!”

“Well that answers that,” Edward said.

Setsuna and Asuna both looked at each other knowing that they had to go help Negi. Natalie saw the look. “Go you two, we’ll handle things here. Go help Negi take Chao down.”

“Right, thanks you two,” Asuna said then took off with Setsuna.

Natalie and Edward stood back to back, assessing their situation. “Things are getting pretty desperate,” she said to him.

“All the more reason to fight back harder,” he said as he sliced through another robot. “Give me a boost?”

Natalie nodded, took a step away from him, then turned using her alchemy to create a pillar of rock that not only lifted Edward up into the air, it demolishing a few more robots at the same time. When the pillar reached its peak, Edward jumped down off it and sliced through more of them.

Just then, a barrage of bullets came their way. Edward quickly put up a wall to shield them but it wasn’t big enough. Natalie was partially exposed and one of the bullets hit her. “Natalie!” he yelled but before he could reach her, the sphere had formed and she was gone. “Damn it!” He knew she was alright but it still pissed him off and he went on a rampage.

When the sphere disappeared Natalie was in a field with hundreds of other people and it was quiet. “Oh hell no!” She was not going to let this stand. She had to try and get back. Materializing her staff once more she created a portal. “Time to test if I can really go anywhere with this thing, even back in time a few hours,” she said as she stepped through the portal.

When she came out she was at the World Tree again and robots were everywhere. “Oh yeah, this thing is a lot more useful than I thought.” She went running down the stairs and back into things. She didn’t care about how close or far away the robots were, she was using her Spatial Rift at point blank range if she could. Everything it hit exploded. If she couldn’t maneuver enough to get the Spatial Rift off she was transmuting the robots into balls of twisted metal.

She had to find Edward; he had to be worried about her. Creating a pillar just big enough to look over the crowd she searched for him. It didn’t take long as a large spiked spear rumbled up through a crowd of robots. “Always gotta put on a show,” she chuckled to herself as she jumped down from the pillar and tore through every robot that got in her way until she reached Edward.

When she arrived, he had his back to her fighting off a rather large humanoid robot. “Charon Spatial Rift!” she called sending the blast just to the right of Edward and blowing the robot apart.

Edward quickly turned around to see her there. “Warn someone when you’re going to do that!” he yelled. “What a second, I saw you vanish!”

She held up her staff. “I can go anywhere I want to remember? It seems that it includes time as well as space.”

Edward smiled at her. “Good to have you back then,” he said punching just off to her left, sending his blade into a robot that had come up behind her.

“Any word on the battle with Negi and Chao?”

Edward pointed up to the blimp that was flying overhead. “It’s gotten pretty intense up there from what I can tell. I don’t know how much longer either of them can hold out. Also seems the World Tree is the only point left that hasn’t been overtaken…”

“Well seems fitting since I don’t know how much longer we’re going to hold out down here either,” Natalie said blowing up another one. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to get tired, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.”

Edward nodded. “I hate to admit it but I’m starting to feel it too but we can’t give up. Wasn’t it you that said we can’t just think of ourselves?”

Natalie smiled and nodded. “As long as we’re on the same page…” she said as she blew up a few more.

Finally, the loud speakers came to life again. “Chao has been defeated! This year’s closing event is officially over! Congratulations to Professor Negi, all the members of the Hero Unit, and all of the students of Mahora Academy!”

With the announcement the robots started to retreat. All of the remaining players started to cheer. Natalie and Edward both sighed heavily and sat down on the ground, back to back.

“Holy crap that was fun,” Edward said with a laugh.

Natalie couldn’t help but to laugh as well. “I don’t know if fun is exactly the word I’d use but at the moment I don’t have a better one.”

Asuna and Konoka came up to Natalie and Edward. “We thought you guys would still be here,” Asuna said with a laugh. “The 3-A girls are having a party, come on you two, you’re invited. We’re going to be sending Chao off. Since she lost she has to go back to her own time.”

Edward looked at them confused. “Wait a minute, why would you want to throw a party for someone that just tried to destroy life as you know it?”

Konoka took this one. “It’s not something that can easily be explained Edward-sempai, yeah she did all of these things but she was also our classmate. We spent the last two years with her and she became our friend too. It’s one of our strong points I’d like think, we’re forgiving and welcoming but most of all we stick together.”

Edward just shook his head. “I’m still not sure I understand. I mean yeah I get that you guys stick together and that’s admirable but isn’t what she did a betrayal of that? She was willing to fight you to get what she wanted; I’m not sure how that’s forgivable.”

Natalie looked at Edward. “Haven’t you ever gotten into an argument with someone you care about Ed?” She knew that was a rhetorical question, of course he had. He argued with Alphonse and Winry and countless others. “Did you just give up on them because of it?”

Edward sighed. “No…”

“This is no different. Chao believed she was right, her friends didn’t agree. It’s actually as simple as that. You don’t abandon a friend just because you don’t agree on something.”

Edward stood up and held his hand out to Natalie to help her up too. “You’re right, thanks for reminding me…”

Natalie took his hand and let him help her. “That’s what I’m here for,” she said to him with a smile. She then turned to Asuna and Konoka, “So where’s this party? Let’s get going.”


	13. Are You Leaving Us Too?

The next morning, all of the Hero Unit members had gathered in the Headmaster’s office. “Thank you everyone for coming. I’d like to thank you all for your hard work yesterday, because of Negi and his brilliant plan Chao Lingshen was able to be defeated and we were able to keep the existence of magic and the magical community a secret. Unfortunately Chao was unable to be apprehended after the fight but I highly doubt she will give us any more trouble. It has been arranged so that it will appear as though she transferred out of the school and moved to another country and I’d like you all to perpetuate that story should you be asked.”

Everyone in the room nodded. Most of them didn’t honestly care as long as the situation was under control and none of them were facing being turned into ermines. Not a one of them would actually say that though.

After that the Headmaster dismissed everyone except Natalie, Edward, and Negi. He turned his attention to Natalie. “Now that things have settled down, I was wondering what you and Mr. Elric will be doing next.”

“Excuse me sir?” Natalie asked confused. As far as she knew they were supposed to be staying here to tutor the girls in exchange for Edward’s stone of translation.

“Well, I was curious if you’d be staying with us or if you’d be moving on in your travels.”

“But Headmaster, I thought…”

He chuckled a bit. “I think your services during the festival are more than equal payment for the ring.”

“But what about all of the other things you were so kind to provide for us? I still feel like we’re indebted to you.”

The Headmaster shook his head. “No, all I did was repay a similar kindness bestowed upon me by Edward’s father many years ago.”

Natalie looked at Edward. He had no idea what the Headmaster was talking about and indicated so. Natalie then looked back to the Headmaster. “Well then, I’m not sure. We haven’t really talked about it given that we thought we’d have to stay here awhile longer but…”

“Natalie?” Edward said, putting his hand on her shoulder. He knew this was difficult for her, wanting to stay but knowing that if they stayed too long they’d start to really interfere in this world more than they already had.

“You’re welcome to stay,” Negi said. “I would welcome Edward’s and your help. That and I’d miss you both if you were gone.”

Natalie smiled. “Thanks Negi, that means a lot to me, to us,” she said as she looked to Edward. “I’m just not sure it’s a good idea to stay too long.”

“We’ve imposed on you guys long enough, plus if we hang out here we risk interfering in your world. I don’t know about Natalie, but I don’t what that,” Edward said. He’d remembered enough times where he’d butted his nose into the everyday lives of people and managed to turn them upside down. Natalie simply nodded, agreeing with him.

“But…” Negi started, but the Headmaster stopped him.

“Where will you go then?”

Natalie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Like I said, we really hadn’t had a chance to think about it, all things considered.”

“Well where would you like to go?” the Headmaster asked curiously.

“There are a few places I’d like to visit, I’m just not sure which one to head to now. I don’t exactly have a specific goal anymore like when we got here so it’s not as easy to pick.” That wasn’t entirely true though, there was one place she wanted to go and see if the story she knew was right or not but she wasn’t sure she should go there, not with Edward anyway. If they did go there it would be very possible to have more than one Edward in one world at the same time and she wasn’t sure what would happen. She knew from Sailor Moon though that if a past self and a future self were in the same space at the same time, it put the one that didn’t belong there in danger of vanishing. That situation would be slightly different but Natalie didn’t want to put her Edward at risk like that.

The Headmaster couldn’t help but to chuckle. “Ah yes, that can make things more difficult. Why not give it another day of thought?”

Edward put his hand on Natalie’s shoulder. “Maybe that’s a good idea Natalie.”

Natalie sighed heavily but she knew they were both right. She couldn’t forget what had happened the last time she’d chosen a world and gone there half cocked and without thinking it though all of the way. Edward had almost been killed by Sebastian. Why did every choice seem to put Edward in danger? Even here, they could have been hurt during the battle yesterday. She was putting them both in danger. Why hadn’t she thought about this before? Suddenly Natalie felt like her legs were going to give out on her and she fell to her knees, her head down.

“Natalie!” yelled Negi and Edward in unison as they both went to her, each one putting their hand on her back. They could both hear the faint sounds of crying.

“What’s wrong Natalie?” Negi asked.

She pulled away from both of them then got up and ran out of the Headmaster’s office. Negi and Edward both looked at the Headmaster who just sighed.

“The weight of infinite possibility and infinite consequence is a heavy burden for anyone to shoulder, especially for an eighteen year old girl. I think that weight might have finally caught up to her.” The Headmaster stood up. “I think both of you boys should go after her. You both understand how overwhelming it can feel when you realize the true nature of the burdens you bare.”

Negi looked at Edward, they had patched things between them but he didn’t think it was his place right now to go after Natalie. He was her friend, but Edward was everything to her and his words would have far more meaning to her than anything Negi could say to her. “No,” he said softly. “You go after her Edward; she needs you now more than anyone else.”

Edward put his hand on Negi’s shoulder and smiled, “Thanks Negi, for everything.” He then turned the Headmaster, “And thank you too.”

“You’re welcome, now get going before she gets too far away and you have more trouble finding her,” Negi replied.

Edward nodded and bolted out the door after her. The Headmaster couldn’t help but to chuckle. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again for some time.” Negi nodded, he’d gotten the same feeling from Edward’s good-bye.

It had taken about ten minutes but he’d finally caught up to her at the World Tree. It had been a guess but he’d thought she might go there. When he came up behind her she was just standing there looking up into the sky through the branches of the tree. He slipped his arms around her waist and held her close. “What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

Natalie jumped a little when he’d done that but she wasn’t completely surprised. She put her hands to her face and was crying into them. “I don’t know Ed, I just don’t. I started thinking about where we’d go and what had already happened and the danger of this power I have hit me and… and… it felt like my heart was going to break right there in the Headmaster’s office. It felt like when I thought you were going to die. It hurt Ed, oh god it hurt.”

He tried to turn her around so he could look at her, “Natalie look at me.”

“No.”

“Natalie, damn it, look at me!” he said forcing her to turn around. Her eyes went wide when they met his. “Listen to me; I know the burden you’re carrying alright? Always afraid to hurt someone or to lose someone you care about, worrying that your choices aren’t going to help, only make things worse. You can’t worry about it so much, you just have to follow your instincts, do what you think is right. Isn’t that what you told me? Fight for what you believe in.”

Natalie just looked at him, the tears still running down her cheeks. “But when I think of everything that’s happened or I think of the places I’d want to go to all I can think about is how it has or might hurt you Ed. Right now, you’re all I’ve got…”

“And right now Natalie, you’re all I have too. I don’t want to see you get hurt anymore than you want to see me get hurt. You need to stop over thinking these things and remember no matter what, stuff is going to happen OK? We’ll deal with it when it does. We can’t worry about what might be, just what’s in front of us right now.” Gently, he wiped the tears from her cheeks even though they kept streaming.

She grabbed his shirt and buried her face in his chest. “I know but…”

“No buts,” he said holding her tighter.

After a few minutes she finally regained herself and had stopped crying. “I’m sorry Ed,” she said softly.

He smiled warmly at her. “Don’t be. I’ll be the first one to admit that I’ve lost it when it comes to realizing the weight of the life I’ve chosen. Now we just have to figure out what to do and where to go next. Maybe somewhere we can just blend in for awhile.”

Natalie nodded. “I have an idea where I’d like to go next but I’m not sure we’ll be able to blend in.” While she had been there looking up into the sky she had abandoned her previous idea, at least for now. She had decided that the next place they might try was Karakura Town. The danger was still there but at least she figured they would have a better chance of being equally in harm’s way instead of it being more on Edward. What he’d said to her, about only facing what was in front of them, it didn’t help ease her mind, not completely.

“What do you mean?”

“Well I’m not sure if we can see Hollows or not.”

“Hollows?”

“Spirits or souls that have lost their humanity I guess is the best way I can put it. They consume other souls to survive and in some cases grow stronger. We could be in a lot of trouble if we can’t see them.”

“Then why do you want to go there?”

“Because there are people there I’d like to meet and there might be a few things to learn there.”

Edward grinned at her. “Then let’s go. If we don’t like it there or things go wrong we can just leave again right?”

Natalie took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. So then it’s settled.”

Edward nodded. “Yup, we’ll just head back to the apartment to get our things and then we’ll leave. I know you don’t really want to stay here that extra night.”

“No I don’t. I do like it here and we’ve had a lot of fun but I don’t want to cause any more trouble for them.”

“Alright so then gets get going.”

With that they headed back to the apartment and then they were off, a new adventure waiting for them.


End file.
